John Ternus is already doing it all

John Ternus has now been CEO of Apple for over a month, so it’s time to rate his legacy. Okay, that’s probably unfair. Let’s give the guy at least a quarter.

But since we’re on the subject, what can we glean from what Ternus has done so far that will indicate what kind of CEO he’ll be? Admittedly, even that’s going to be hard because he’s barely had time to actually do anything, but there are some early indicators brought to us by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Let’s start with somewhat vague concepts: Apple under Ternus: More products, more often, with a ‘leaner’ staff.

This reportedly includes being “more experimental” with releases. More experimental than the Vision Pro? Oookay. We’ll look forward to that.

Despite the desire to be leaner, Apple declined one… mmm, “opportunity” is the wrong word… “chance to punch itself in the face.” That’s more accurate: Apple Reportedly Planned to Replace 5,000 Support Employees With AI.

[Apple] worked on a plan to lay off about 5,000 AppleCare customer-service workers, including many who work from home, based on the belief that improved AI-powered phone and web agents could take over portions of their responsibilities. Apple ultimately put those plans on hold and isn’t currently looking to take such a step.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, September 29, 2026

Alas, Apple customers will not know the joys of having an AI ask us to do all the things we’ve already tried all over again before advising we log out of iCloud and then back in.

This might be another area where Apple supposedly being “late” to AI will work to its advantage as other companies have learned this lesson the hard way with three-quarters of them having rolled back AI call center deployments. In fact, instead of laying off the support personnel, Apple let go some middle managers and directors instead!

Welcome to the class struggle, Apple Inc.? No, no, that’s not right. Ridiculous. Forget the Macalope said that.

Still, it’s worth noting that one Apple executive in particular is even having to do two jobs! And that executive is… oh! John Ternus! Apple’s John Ternus Has Found a New Design Chief: Himself.

15 years after Steve Jobs’ death, the design buck stops at the CEO’s desk once again. According to Gurman, gallant Ternus “works hands-on in the [Apple design] studio several times a week, sometimes visiting multiple times in a single day”, whereas Goofus Tim Cook would only visit “about an hour once a month, at most.” And he reportedly said things like “Is this one of them computers?” and “Does this one get the internet?”

Okay, maybe not that last part. Gurman drops a “many are saying” that really makes you wonder who his sources are.

Given design’s central role in Apple’s product development and in generating ideas for future devices, many people inside and close to the company believed it should recruit an outside chief design officer to oversee the entire organization. But I’m told no such search is underway.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, October 4, 2026

If many are, indeed, saying this, then those many should avail themselves of one of the various means by which one can get bent in today’s modern society. There are many options, please pick one of your choosing, because it is largely unfathomable as to who could just step into the role of chief freakin’ designer at Apple freakin’ Inc. Are Gurman’s sources people who think it should be them? Because this reads like one of those surveys of macho bros who think they could go a few rounds with a bear or a gorilla.

“Yeah, I think I could hold my own in a fight against a gorilla. I took a little taekwondo.”

Please, be the Macalope’s guest. Hope you don’t like using your arms because the gorilla is going to rip them off your body and beat you to death with them.

Anyway, this change just makes sense given the two CEOs’ different backgrounds and styles. It’s not like Cook’s tenure at Apple was anything other than a massive financial and operational success, but it’s still exciting to think this CEO is showing an interest in the details that make Apple products so compelling.

Are Ternus’s changes going to work? Heck if the Macalope knows. He would say we’ll have to wait until the rubber meets the road but Apple canceled the car project so that metaphor doesn’t work anymore. So far the horny one likes what he sees, though.